Entrepreneurs credit hard work and UNB

A tale of two students who found friendship and opportunity through UNB’s Technology, Management & Entrepreneurship (TME) diploma program has turned into a success story illustrative of the current wave of innovation striking the region.

Civil engineering graduate Matt Vance (right, BScCE ’14, DTME ‘14) and recreation and sport sciences graduate Josh Ogden (left, BRSS ’14, DTME ‘15) were classmates in the TME program. Today, they are, respectively, the president and the CEO of Castaway Golf, a company whose signature product retrieves lost balls at golf courses, cleans them and sorts them by more than 200 brands. The recycled balls are then repackaged and sold, providing a cost-efficient path into a lucrative $400-million sector.

In March, Matt, Josh, and Matt’s father, Kevin, who co-founded the company with them, won the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation’s Breakthru competition.

“There are two main reasons why we are having success,” explained Ogden. “One is hard work and two is the support we get from UNB and the community.”

The company has now opened an office in Fredericton, received National Research Council funding, and landed a national distribution deal with Giant Tiger.

Donor support of UNB’s Technology, Management and Entrepreneurship program, as well as scholarships and bursaries, creates the opportunities that students like Matt and Josh need to succeed. Explore what you can support at UNB.